The mystery of Roony Bardghji, Lamine Yamal's replacement

BarcelonaBarça has won both of its league matches so far and hasn't missed the three players who are awaiting registration too much. Injuries haven't been a problem, aside from those of Marc-André ter Stegen and Marc Bernal, and Hansi Flick hasn't required the depth of Gerard Martín, Wojciech Szczęsny, and Roony Bardghji, who have yet to make their official debuts because the club is outside the 1:1 rule of the fair play financial and hasn't achieved enough savings to register them. The deadline is September 1st at night.

As for the Catalan defender, who is the most urgent for the coach, Deco and company are calculating that it will be enough to terminate Oriol Romeu's contract before the trip to Vallecas on Matchday 3. With the Polish goalkeeper, the loans of Iñaki Peña and Héctor Fort will help create space that could be filled with a small guarantee. On the other hand, there are more doubts about the Swedish attacker after Plan A failed, which was to register him with Barça Atlètic so he wouldn't occupy a first-team roster. This approach, which is the same one that has allowed young Franco Mastantuono to play normally—and wearing the number 30 on his back—in Madrid's first two La Liga matches, hasn't worked.

If the former Copenhagen player, who is considered a natural replacement for Lamine Yamal in the current squad, is not yet registered it is because the employers' association advised against registering him as a player of a dependent team, a maneuver that in accordance with article 251 of the general regulations of the Spanish Football Federation (RF teams dependent on a club [...] can be fielded in a higher category or division and returned to the one of origin without any type of limitation." But why can Madrid rely on this rule with Mastantuono (18 years old) and Barça not with Bardghji (19)?

The first difference is based on the fact that Real Madrid is not intervened by La Liga in salary matters. The club meringue is not outside the 1:1 norm nor has it had to endorse no amount to compensate for losses in the non-registrable salary mass, which is also taken into account when calculating the salary cap. Therefore, registering Mastantuono as a Castilla player does not circumvent any limitations, although it is taking advantage of a legal loophole, because it is clear that he is a player who will be under Xabi Alonso's orders and who will not play many matches in the Primera RFEF. However, given that Barça is outside the 1:1 rule and is subject to financial scrutiny, not only by the management but also by other clubs, it could be interpreted as relying on the regulations to avoid the salary cap. Furthermore, a few days ago it emerged that Joan Laporta's board had to correct a deviation of 7 million in the non-registrable salary mass, of which Bardghji's salary would be part if he were counted as part of the reserve team.

Barça could loan Bardghji even if he isn't registered

The second difference relates to the number of available players. The capital's press suggests that the main reason Madrid is registering Mastantuono with Castilla is because if they sign him for the first team, they would have all 25 spots in the squad filled, which supposedly goes against the intention of signing the midfielder, whom Alonso has long sought from Florentino Pérez. However, Barça currently only has 20 professional spots occupied, waiting for Iñaki Peña to free up his spot for Szczęsny, and for Gerard Martín and Bardghji to be fully available to Flick. That is to say, registering the Swede, who is not from La Masia and has cost two million euros, as a reserve team player is not justified by an issue of excess professional registrations, since at most the Barça club will fill 23.

Aside from Bardghji, first comes Marc Bernal, who will be injured a year ago this Wednesday and is about to receive his medical clearance. The idea is for him to return to the squad in mid-September for the Barça-Valencia match, but it is not yet known whether he will do so as a first-team or reserve team player. His agent, Raúl Verdú, met with Deco a few days ago to discuss his renewal until 2029. However, the announcement of this agreement could be delayed in order to maintain the player's contract with the reserve team and, in doing so, avoid headaches with his professional registration for all purposes. In any case, it will depend on whether the 1:1 rule is returned to or not.

Unlike Bernal, Bardghji is a newcomer to the Barça universe who should be a direct first-team player. If there are no ways for him to be registered before September 1st, the club is considering two solutions. The first is a guarantee, which already served with Jules Kounde in 2022 and with Joãos in 2024. And the second, more remote, is a loan, something that was already done with Vitor Roque before he was sufficiently qualified. fair play to register it.